China will donate an additional 400,000 doses of Sinovac-made CoronaVac vaccines to the Philippines in addition to the 600,000 doses it earlier donated to the country.
President Rodrigo Duterte who announced the additional Beijing donation Thursday in Valenzuela City, did not give details on the matter
Earlier, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said one million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac will arrive this March under a PHP700-million purchase deal, to beef up the country’s current vaccine supply.
In addition to the CoronaVac, 487,200 doses of the United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca vaccine also arrived Thursday night
Sinovac’s CoronaVac is the third Covid-19 vaccine brand after Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use.
Based on reports, at least 9,077 Filipinos have already been inoculated with the CoronaVac in 32 vaccination sites in Metro Manila, three days after the country launched its immunization program against Covid-19.
Reports also indicate that all vaccine recipients encountered no adverse effects. except for some 20 who experienced “minor and common discomforts” like headaches, muscle pain. nausea, high blood pressure and skin rashes.